• The government sells liens when the owner has defaulted. They do this so they can get their tax payment immediately, while the person doing the tax lien investing pays the taxes that are owed on the property.
• In return for making the tax payments, the tax lien investor gets a return on their money, which is set at a given percentage depending on the state. A common range is 16% to 24%.
• If the owner of the property does not bring his account up to date within a given time period, called the "redemption period," the tax lien investor has the right to claim the property using legal procedures. It rarely comes to this, however, so don't expect that tax lien investing will automatically lead to getting real estate for pennies on the dollar.
• Not all states offer Tax Liens, but many of them do.
• Tax liens are sold at auctions. This means that oftentimes, the percentage return is bid down, or the price of the lien is bid up, which can translates into lower returns than the rate that is set by the state.
• Tax liens are considered low risk investments because they are controlled by the government, and your money is backed up by real estate.
• It is possible to buy tax liens through the mail

These are just the basic facts, and before you dive in, you will need to know such things as relevant laws that govern tax liens in the state you live in, how to protect yourself from buying liens on bad properties, where the tax lien auctions are held, how to buy tax liens by mail, and many other things in order to handle tax lien investing wisely.

The good news is that tax lien investing is a wonderful way to get good returns on your money while assuming little risk, and there are quite a few courses that teach about tax lien investing. The bad news is that many of the courses out there are not high quality, and you will not get enough information to confidently start tax lien investing.

Don't forget to check my list of recommended tax lien investing courses. This article was written by Tom Oki, editor of a prominent business opportunity review site, where you can read a full article on investing in tax lien certificates.